Wednesday, December 14, 2016

"Manchester By The Sea" Leads SAG Nominations With Four; "Fences" and "Moonlight" Follow With Three

The Screen Actors Guild announced their nominees today and I have to say, these are a surprising set and the step up from the mess that was the Golden Globe nominations that were announced on Monday. Let's take a look:

Best Ensemble In A Motion Picture:Captain FantasticFencesHidden FiguresManchester By The SeaMoonlight
Biggest shocker is that there's No La La Land. Even if the film is a two hander, usually Best Picture frontrunners garner a Best Ensemble nomination at the Screen Actors Guild. Even films with small casts that go on to get nominated for Best Picture like The Theory of Everything and Dallas Buyers Club were nominated here. Guessing this is now Moonlight's to lose.

Best Male Actor In A Leading Role:
Casey Affleck, Manchester By The Sea
Andrew Garfield, Hacksaw Ridge
Ryan Gosling, La La Land
Viggo Mortensen, Captain Fantastic
Denzel Washington, Fences
Looks like Affleck, Garfield, Gosling, and Washington are pretty safe for a nomination while Mortensen is coming on strong, having been nominated here and at the Golden Globes while Captain Fantastic was nominated in Best Ensemble. Some big omissions include no Joel Edgerton for Loving and especially no Tom Hanks for Sully. I think even if the movie star-savvy Golden Globes couldn't nominate Hanks, his chances at getting in look pretty dim.

Best Female Actor In A Leading Role:
Amy Adams, Arrival
Emily Blunt, The Girl On The Train
Natalie Portman, Jackie
Emma Stone, La La Land
Meryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins
The biggest shocker of the day has to be Emily Blunt. Considering how the film was a massive critical underperformer, I didn't think she stood a chance. But at least they nominated the person that was the best part of it. Some omissions include Annette Bening for 20th Century Women, Isabelle Huppert for Elle, and Ruth Negga for Loving. Super competitive year.

Best Male Actor In A Supporting Role:
Mahershala Ali, Moonlight
Jeff Bridges, Hell Or High Water
Hugh Grant, Florence Foster Jenkins
Lucas Hedges, Manchester By The Sea
Dev Patel, Lion
So glad to see Lucas Hedges nominated here after the Globes ignored him. I do think he's on shaky ground due to the slight competitiveness of the category and the fact that the Oscars are stingy with nominating young actors, having snubbed Jacob Tremblay for Room last year. I think this is Ali's to lose because he's been winning almost every critical prize out there so far and even won the Critics Choice Award.

Best Female Actor In A Supporting Role:
Viola Davis, Fences
Naomie Harris, Moonlight
Nicole Kidman, Lion
Octavia Spencer, Hidden Figures
Michelle Williams, Manchester By The Sea
I think Davis, Harris, Kidman, and Williams are safe for an Oscar nomination because they've showed up everywhere they needed to (BFCA, Golden Globe, SAG) with the final spot between both Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monae for Hidden Figures and Greta Gerwig for 20th Century Women. Monae, who was a Critics Choice nominee, could end up edging out Spencer because she's also got Moonlight to boost her profile. But Spencer is more of an industry veteran and is a previous Oscar winner for The Help.
What do you guys think? Are you as surprised by these nominees as I am? Please feel free to write your thoughts in the comments section. Thanks for reading!